Disintegrating link or articulated cartridge belt for machine guns and the like



F. FRENCH ETAL 2,562,709

LINK OR ARTICULATEZD CARTRIDGE BELT FOR MACHINE GUNS AND THE LIKE,

July 31, 1951 DISINTEGRATING Filed July a, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 lm/nvTORS:

1 47a: Jan

July 31, 1951 G. F. FR CH ET AL ,7

DISINTEGRATING L ARTICULATED CARTRIDGE BELT FOR MA NE GUNS AND THE LIKEFiled July 8, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 y 31, 1951 G. F. FRENCH ETAL2,562,709

DISINTEGRATING LINK OR ARTICULATED CARTRIDGE BELT FOR MACHINE GUNSAND'THE LIKE Filed July 8. 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet :5

Patented July 31, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DISINTEGRATING LINCARTRIDGE BELT AND THE LIKE K OR ARTICULATED FOR MACHINE GUNS GeorgeFrederick French, Roger French, and

SamuelWarhurton,

Manchester, England; said Varburtonassignor to said George. Frederickch'an saidRo ren h Application July 8, 1943; Serial N 0.493334 In Greatliritain July 9, 1942 43" Claims.

Thisinvention relates to disintegrating link or articulated'cartridgebelts for machineguns and the. like of the kind comprising a pluralityof metal links havingloops which fit togetherlike the parts ofa hinge,the cartridges being located in the loops and formingthe hinge pins.

Thelinks are. generally cut from the flat sheet, the loops being formedbytongues which are bent round.,but one. end-of each of which alwaysremains free. The weakness of this construction is. the liability of theloops to open under the jerking motion ofv the feed and the inertiaand/or weight of'the restoi thebelt formedby the links and cartridges.Any undue elongationor extension-of a link will cause a stoppage or jan,.be.- cause the pitch is not correct for the feeding mechanism of-thegun.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved construction-of.link or artieulated belt fora machine gun having greater strength toresist elongation whilst at the same time being cheap andeconomical toproduce.-

According to the invention a-cartridge belt link comprises off-setopposed complementary hingelike loops joined by transverse bridgeportions or junction strips, the two ends of any one loop being integralthrough such bridge portions with the two ends of an opposedcomplementary loop,,so that in eilect they are endless.

According. to one embodiment of the invention, the cartridge belt linkis made from a. blank of metal, or other suitable material, having slitsterminating within the blank and expanded to form off-set opposedcomplementary hinge-like loops with their. ends directed inwardly to thecentre and connected'by bridge portions or junction strips formed by theends of the blank beyond the slits and giving continuity between the twoends of all the opposed adjacent loops.

According to anotherembodiment oi" the invention the belt link is madefrom a metal tube;

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan of'a'metal blank for a link of a disintegrating linkbelt made'in accordancewith this invention.

Figs. 2 to 6 show the finished article and stages manufacture of oneexample of the invention. Figs. '7 and 8 show modifications of make upcomparative with'Fig. 4.

Figs. 9, llland 11 show an alternative method of construction from theblank of Fig. 1, Fig. 11 be ing a section view taken along lineX-X ofFig. 9.

Fig. 12 shows a modified form of blank.-

end iew a dsecticn :8-

Figs. 13 and 14. are- 2 spectively of'part of the finished link madefrom the blank shown in Fig. 12.

Figs. 15 and 16 show an alternative method of bending the blank of Fig.1.

Fig. 17 is a sectional view of. part of alink similar to Fig. 16' butmadefrom the blank-ofFig. 12.

Figs. 18 to 2'7 show alternative ways of bending the blank of Fig. 1'. 7

Figs. 28 to 34 show various forms ofthe invention produced from atube.

Where the parts are the same, or similar in the several figures, theyare given the same or similar reference letters. I

In theexample of the invention shown in-Flgs. 1 to 6, thelink is madefrom a. rectangular stripe of sheet steel in which two parallellongitudinal slits b are made, so that the centre. portion (1 is widerthan the side portion c. The metal is then expanded, an intermediatestage being shewnin Fig. 2; the centre portion'being pushedin onedirection and the side portions in the other, thus resulting in loops 0and ebeing oft-set relative to loopd and opposite it (see Figs. 5 and(5). Indoing so, the ends, F, f of the blank are brought nearlytogetheras shown in-Fig; 3iintil the loops are nearly closed. The'ends fand f of=the blank a thus form bridge portions or junctien strips,givingcontinuitybetween the ends of the opposed adjacent loops, an su hbrid e porticnsor J nction strips f and f are then pressed down tooverlie either the centre loop at (seeFigsi 4,15, and 6), or thesideloops, e and ce(s'eerFig.- 7)., or so that one i overlies the'sideloops-e and c'and the other j overlies the centre lojop d (see Fig. 8)Loop cl I may also be referred to as the. connecting loop.

In another example of the inventien a's shown in Figs. 9,10 and 11,using the same expanded principle of manufacture and the samei'blanlzsasin Fig. l,- the opposed loops 0, andd'andlbridge portions fl and f arebrought to' the position-s shown in Fig. 1f), ins-teadof as shownin Fig;2, and then shaped as shown in Figs. 9-and:.l1. The bridge portions fand F, with one'end'of each loop sandwiched between them;:liezclos'etogether but are not Secured.

In a modification; theiblank'a as shownin Fig; 12, has slots b which areof -waisted shape, and divide the. blank into the same partsywhic'hareigiven the same-reference letter's' as'in 1. At" the-ends ofthezblan'k" are inibs '9'! and 0 which are used, as shown in Figs.l-3and 1-4, Ita y-bending oven to locktogether then-rbri'dge portionsi'fand F, the finished article, except for these nib's; be: in -iasshown inFig.- 9.

As shown in Figs. 15 and 16, the blank of Fig. 1 is expanded" as in theother examples, but the bridge portions f and 1 instead of being foldedin opposite directions, as shown in Fig. 10, are both folded in the samedirection (see Fig. 15, showing a possible intermediate stage) andultimately lie close together as shown in Fig. 16. The finished linkwould be substantially the same as Fig. 9, but, as can be seen, thereare two thicknesses of metal between the bridge parts f and f makingfour thicknesses in all against the three thicknesses of Fig. 9.

Fig. 1'? shows a link made from the blank of Fig. 12, instead of fromthat of Fig. 1, and folded in the same manner as shown in Figs. and 16with the nibs, of which g is shown, folded over to lock together thebridge portions f and B.

Fig. 18 shows diagrammatically an alternative first step of manipulationof the blank shown in Fig. 1. Figs. 19, 20 and 21 respectively show, inend view, three possible alternative final forms with the bridgeportions f and f lying against the loop d (Fig. 19), or against theloops 0 and e (Fig. 20), or divided so that one lies against the loop dand the other against the two loops c and e (the latter assumed to bebehind the loop c). In this form the continuity of the metal produces,in end view, a figure-of-B effect.

Figs. 22, 23 and 24 show a further alternative manipulation of the blankshown in Fig. 1, the bridge portions f and I being brought togetherwithin the loops and the final form being as shown in section in Fig. 23on line XX of Fig. 22, and in end view in Fig. 24. This constructionresults, however, in providing four thicknesses 1 at the centre, therebeing an extra thickness of loop and overlying the bridge portions f andf on each side.

Figs. 25, 26, and 2'7 show a further alternative method of manipulationof the blank shown in Fig. 1, the bridge portions f and i being firstfolded to overlap, with f on the inside as shown in Fig. 25, and thenthe end loops c and e and the centre loop d are bent to left and rightrespectively to form loops with a fiat centre piece, the bridge portionslying underneath with a single thickness of loop ends on top. Obviouslythere are three further alternatives of this method of manipulationwhich produce substantially the same result, namely, the end loops 0 ande and the centre loop d could be bent over to right and leftrespectively, see'Fig. 2'7, which is the on the inside of f which is thereverse of that shown. Actually, only two different forms are produced,as the results of the other two methods,

when viewed from the other end of the link, appear the same as Figs. 27and 26, but with the reference letters I and f transposed.

In the said other embodiment of the invention, the blank is made from alength of tube, and, as in the case of the fiat blank of the examplesbefore described, there are a variety of ways of cutting the tube andbending the same to form the loops.

Figs. 28 and 29 are end and side views respectively of a blank cut froma tube in accordance with one example of the invention by cutting outportions, leaving loop portions of which end loops are lettered c and eand the centre loop is lettered d as in the first described examples.

As shown in Fig. 30, the bridge portions f and I are brought togetherand the loops shaped on opposite sides thereof.

Fig. 31 shows a modification of the blank of opposite to that shown inFig. 26, whilst equally obviously the bridge portion I could be placedFig. 29 in which nibs g and g are provided, extending from the bridgeportion 1. Fig. 32 shows in detail the locked position of these nibs,which are used to fasten together the bridge portions f and F. The nibsg and g could obviously extend from the bridge portion F, or be dividedbetween the bridge portions f f There are obviously several other waysin which the blank of Fig. 29, or Fig. 31, could be bent into its finalshape. The bending could be eifected, for example to turn over thebridge portions in opposite directions (as in Figs. 9-11), or to foldthem double in their length, folding the tube flat and then treating itas described with reference to the blank of Fig. 1 or Fig. 12, which itthen resembles by pushing the centre loop through between the side loopsto produce, for example, the equivalent of Fig. 16, and to producefinished articles similar to those made from the flat blank as shown inthe preceding figures of the drawings.

As shown in Fig. 33, the tube may be slit at b simlar to the slits ofFig. 1, or 12, instead of the more wasteful cut-out method of Figs. 29and 31. Thereafter, as shown in Fig. 34, the loops may be turned to leftand right respectively of the single bridge portion or junction strip I.By this method the fiat connecting portion is of only double thickness,being the bridge portion I and one end of each loop respectively. Theblank of Fig. 33 can obviously be manipulated in a variety of differentways, as, for example, the bridge portion 1 could be folded along acentre line 11, y, to produce the equivalent of Fig. 18, or Fig. 22, andtherefrom links which are the equivalent of Figs. 19 and 20, or 23 and24 respectively.

In all cases, each bridge portion or junction strip, or the loops, maybe ribbed, embossed or bent, for example, as shown at f and c of Fig. 9,giving additional strength, or for any other purpose. The cartridges canbe gripped by any of the loops of the links, as may be desired, whilstothers may be a slack fit to permit free hinge movement.

In some of the figures, as for example Fig. 3, the two end loops e and care shown as of different size according to known requirements, whilstin other figures, for the sake of simplifying the drawing, these twoloops are shown as being of the same size, so that, for example, theloop 0 covers up the loop 6.

The improved constructions have the following chief advantages:

1. In effect the loops are all endless (no joints) 2. The spring grip isobtained from all the bends at the bridge portions as Well as from thespringiness of the loops themselves.

3. By reason of the advantages 1 and 2 above, the link can bestrongerand/or made of thinner and/or lower grade metal, or of some othersuitable material. v

4. The bridge portions in some cases may provide a complementary cradleor cradles for the next link when assembled with cartridges to form abelt and this also facilitates the belt-filling assembly.

5. Except in the case of the cut-out construction from a tube, there isno scrap or waste.

6. The pitch of the belt is not so dependent upon the temper of thesteel and possibly the need for tempering may be avoided. The loopsbeing endless have a high resistance against stretch or elongation undertension due to weight, inertia. or other cause.

As regards the use of disintegrating link belts,

there are certain problems which are closely connected with theconstruction and operation of the feed pawl 01 the gun. In its latestform the feed pawl of a Browning machine gun is shaped with a notch toregister with the central loop of the links and with a front end portionslightly longer than the rear end portion so that the cartridge isproperly aligned in spite of its taper or smaller diameter at the frontloop. This alteration in shape of the pawl accentuates the problemalready existing. The present construction of link belts isnon-reversible, that is to there is a top and a bottom side which aredifferent and only one of which is suitable for engagement by the feedpawl, so that, although the gun may be adjusted to feed from either theleft or the right, the belt if for left-hand feed must be fed from oneend, and if for right-hand feed it must be fed from its other end. Thisis responsible for the present practice of having right and left handboxes for the belts clearly identifiable.

In some of the constructions of belt link according to this invention,the belt may be turned over so that the belt may be fed from the sameend to a gun having either left-hand or right-=- hand feed. The onlypossible limitation to this feature is the connecting bridge portionsor. junction strips, which, as explained in the specification, and, aswill be obvious, may be disposed in a variety of ways so that in somecases they are arranged one on one side and one on the other side of thebelt and lying either against the centre, or connecting, loop, oragainst the two outside loops, or one against the centre loop and theother against the two outside loops. In other cases, they are both onone side of thebelt and may be superimposed and lie against either thecentre, or the two outside loops, or they may be separated and lie oneagainst the centre loop and one against the two outside loops. Thedisposition of these bridgeportions or junction strips may obviouslydetermine the reversibility of the belt both as to direction of feed andas to whether the belt may, or may not be turned over. The dispositionof the bridge portions may be standardised according to the type of pawlin standard use.

Obviously the invention is not limimd to the details of the examplesabove described, many of which may be modified without departing fromthe nature of the invention. For instance, it is conceivable that thereare other ways or, cutting or folding the blanks with eiiect of endlessloops which is the nature of thisinvention.

Other suitable materials which might be used include flat or tubulartextile. fabric, with or. without stiffening, and synthetic resin orother such mouldable or plasticv material.

What we claim is:

1. A machine gun belt link comprising first and second junction strips,a pair of spaced coaxial cartridge gripping loops integral with thestrips and extending unbrokenly from an edge of the first strip to anedge of the second strip, and a connecting loop axially parallel to thegripping loops and offset from the space th-erebetween, the connectingloop also being integral with the strips and extending unbrokenly in thesame circular direction as the gripping loop-s from said edge of v thefirst strip to said edge of the second strip.

2. A machine gun belt link comprising a pair of spaced coaxial,generally circular cartridge gripping loops, a pair of junction stripmember integral with and extending between thefsp'aced loops, and aconnecting 100p axially parallel to the gripping loops 'andofise't fromthe space there between, the connecting loop also being integral withboth .of the junction strips and related thereto in such a manner thatbothof the junction strips lie on the same side of a plane including theaxes of all of the loops at least one of said junction strips overlyingan arcuate section of at least one of said loops.

3. .A machine gun belt link comprising first and second junction strips,a pair of spaced coaxial cartridge. gripping loops integral with thestrips and extending in one circular direction from an edge. of thefirst strip to an edge of the second strip, and a connecting loopaxially parallel to the gripping loops and. oifset from the spacetherebetween, the connecting loop being also integral with the stripsand extending in the same circular direction as the gripping loops fromsaid eglge of the first strip to said edge. of the second s rip.

4. A. machine gun belt link comprising first and second junction strips,a pair of spaced co axial cartridge gripping loops integral with thestrips and extending-fin one circular direction from an edge oi'thefirst strip to an edge of the second strip, and a connecting loopaxially parallel to the gripping loops and offset from the spacetherebetween, the. connecting loop being also integral with the stripsand extending in the same circular direction as the gripping loops fromsaid edge of the first strip. to said edge of thev second strip, thesaid. junction strips lying upon each other in overlapping relation tothe connecting 5. A machine gun belt link comprising first and secondjunction strips, a pair of spaced coaxial cartridge gripping loopsintegral with the strips and extending in one circular direction from anedge of the first strip to an edge of, the second strip, and aconnecting loop axially parallel to. the gripping loops and offset fromthe space therebetween, the connecting loop being also integral with thestrips and extending in the same Circular directionas the gripping loopsfrom said edge of the first strip to said edge of the second strip, andthe said junction strips lying upon each other in overlapping relationand being provided with interlocking means to limit endwise. movement ofone junction strip with respect to. the other junction strip. Y

6. A machine gun belt link comprising first and second junction strips,a pair of spaced coaxial cartridge gripping loops integral with thestrips and extending in one circular direction from an edge of the firststrip to an edge of the second strip, and a connecting loop axiallyparallel to the gripping loops and offset from the space therebetween,the connecting loop being also integral with the strips and extending inthe same circular direction as the gripping loops from said edge of thefirst strip to said edge of the second strip, one of the junction stripslying in overlapping relation to the connecting loop and the other ofthe junction strips lying in overlapping relation'to the gripping loops.

7. A cartridge belt link comprising a pair of axially aligned andlongitudinally spaced cartridge gripping loops, a connecting loopaxially parallel to the gripping loops and offset from the spacetherebetween to an extent completely out of registry with the grippingloops, and means includingcrossed portions integral with the loops andforming a, junction between the loops in such a manner tha't'tlie loopsand the crossed portions define a generally continuous unbroken figureeight.

8. A cartridge belt link comprising adjacent axially parallel loopmembers, and a pair of junction strips disposed at an angle to and lyingon the same side of a plane including the axes of the loops.

9. A cartridge belt link comprising a pair of axially aligned cartridgegripping loops, a connecting loop axially parallel with and adjacent tothe gripping loops but completely out of registry therewith and aplurality of junction strips integral with the loops and formingjunctions therebetween, each of said junction strips being disposed atan angle to and on the same side of a plane including the axes of allthe loops.

10. A cartridge belt link comprising a pair of axially aligned cartridgegripping loops, a connecting loop axially parallel with and adjacent tothe gripping loops but completely out of registry therewith, and aplurality of junction strips integral with the loops and formingjunctions therebetween, each of said junction strips being disposed atan angle to and on the same side of a plane including the axes of allthe loops, the said loops being so related as to define a continuousunbroken figure eight.

11. A cartridge belt link comprising a pair of axially aligned cartridgegripping loops, a connecting loop axially parallel with and adjacent tothe gripping loops but completely out of registry therewith, and aplurality 01 Junction strips integral with the loops and formingjunctions therebetween, each of said junction strips being disposed atan angle to and on the same side of a plane including the axes of allthe loops, the junction strips lying upon each other in overlappingrelation adjacent and overlying at least one of the loops.

12. A cartridge belt link comprising a pair of axially aligned cartridgegripping loops, a connecting loop axially parallel with and adjacent tothe gripping loops but completely out of registry therewith, and aplurality of junction strips integral with the loops and formingjunctions therebetween, each of said junction strips being disposed atan angle to and on the same side of a plane including the axes of allthe loops, the junction strips lying upon each other in overlappingrelation and being provided with interlocking means to limit endwisemovement of one junction strip with relation to the other junctionstrip.

13. A machine gun belt link comprising a pair of spaced, coaxial,cartridge gripping loops, 9. pair of junction strip members integralwith and extending between the spaced loops, and a connecting loopaxially parallel to the gripping loops and oifset from the spacetherebetween, the connecting loop also being integral with both of thejunction strips, and the construction being such that both of thejunction strips lie on the same side of the plane which includes theaxes of all of the loops and such that said junction strips arerelatively movable laterally.

14. A machine gun belt link comprising a pair of spaced coaxial,cartridge gripping loops, a pair of junction strip members integral withand extending between the loops, and a connecting loop axially parallelto the gripping loops and oifset from the space therebetween, theconnecting loop also being integral with both junction strips andrelated thereto in such a fashion that both of the junction strips lieon the same side of the median plane including the axes of all of theloops, a portion of the connecting loop at one side of the median planeand a portion of each gripping loop at the opposite side of the medianplane originating at the same junction strip and extending oppositelyaway therefrom and returning oppositely toward and terminating at theother junction strip.

15. A machine gun belt link comprising a pair of spaced coaxial,cartridge gripping loops, a pair of conjunction strip members integralwith and extending between the loops, and a connecting loop axiallyparallel to the gripping loops and ofiset from the space therebetween,the connecting loop also being integral with both junction strips andrelated thereto in such a fashion that both of the junction strips lieon the same side of the median plane including the axes of all of thloops, a portion of the connecting loop at one side of the median planeand a portion of each gripping loop at the opposite side of the medianplane originating at the same junction strip and extending oppositelyaway therefrom and returning oppositely toward and terminating at theother junction strip, the said junction strips being generally paralleland contiguous and relatively movable at least laterally.

16. A cartridge belt link comprising adjacent axially parallel loops,and meansincluding portions integral with and forming junctions betweenthe loops, said portions crossing between the loops in such a mannerthat the loops and the crossed portions define generally a continuousunbroken figure eight.

17. A cartridge belt link comprising adjacent axially parallel loops,and means including portions integral with and forming a junctionbetween the loops, said portions crossing between the loops in such amanner that the loops and i the crossed portions define generally acontinuous unbroken figure eight, at least one of said portionsincluding an integral folded section overlying a portion of theperiphery of at least one of the loops.

18. A method of making a machine gun belt link which comp-rises thesteps of forming about a substantially common axis three loops eachattached at one end to one of a pair of parallel junction strips andeach attached at the other end to the other one of the pair of paralleljunction strips, and displacing the center loop away from the axis ofthe end loops to a position axially parallel thereto and offsettherefrom.

19. The method of making a machine gun belt link which comprises forminga pair of slots in a rectangular metallic strip having a length greaterthan its width, the slots being parallel with the greatest dimension ofthe blank and terminated short of the ends thereof thus providing threeparallel strips joined to each other by junction strips at each end,bending the blank until the said ends are brought together thusproviding three loops in coaxial alignment with the said end portionslying flat upon each other and then bending th central loop out over thesaid ends until the other two loops lie in opposed complementaryrelation to the center loop.

20. A blank for forming a machine gun belt link, comprising arectangular piece of sheet metal of greater length than width havingtwosubstantially parallel longitudinal slots therein terminating short ofthe ends of said piece of metal, whereby a machine gun belt link can beformed by bending the said piece of metal until the ends thereof arebrought together to provide three correspondingly aligned loops and thendis- 9 placing the center loop with respect to the end loops until'thecenter loop is axially parallel to the end loops and offset therefrom.

21. A method for making 'a sheet metal article comprising the steps ofslitting a blank so as to provide a plurality of longitudinally disposedparallel portions which are connected to each other at both of theirends, applying forming pressure to adjacent portions in oppositedirections so as to expand the same into a partially formed blank, andsubjecting said partially formed blank to a second forming operationwherein the forming pressure is applied thereto in a dilfere'nt direc-:tion.

22. A cartridge belt link comprising first and second junction strips, apair of spaced coaxial cartridge gripping loops integral with the stripsand extending from an edge of the first strip to an edge of the secondstrip, and a connecting loop axially parallel to the gripping loops andoff-set from the space therebetween, the connecting loop also beingintegral with the strips and extending from the same edge of said firststrip to the same edge of said second strip.

23. A cartridge belt link comprising first and second junction strips, apair of spaced coaxial cartridge gripping loops integral with the stripsand extending from an edge of the first strip to an edge of the secondstrip, and a connecting loop axially parallel to the gripping loops andoiT-set from the space therebetween, the connecting loop also beingintegral with the strips and extending from the same edge of said firststrip to the same edge of said second strip, the other edges of saidstrips being free from connection with the loops.

24. A cartridge belt link as set forth in claim 22 in which one of saidjunction strips partially overlies the peripheral surface of one of saidloops.

25. A cartridge belt link as set forth in claim 22 in which one of saidstrips partially overlies the peripheral surface of the connecting loop.

26. A cartridge belt link as set forth in claim 22 in which saidjunction strips partially overlie one of said loops.

2'7. A cartridge belt link as set forth in claim claim 22 in which saidjunction strips partially overlie the connecting loop.

28. A cartridge belt link as set forth in claim 22 in which saidjunction strips overlie and are closely adjacent one another insubstantially parallel planes.

29. A cartridge belt link as set forth in claim 22 in which saidjunction strips overlie and are closely adjacent one another and inwhich each junction strip has its edge from which the loops extendadjacent the opposite edge of the other.

30. A cartridge belt link as set forth in claim 28 in which one of saidstrips has a longitudinal rib formed therein.

31. The method of making a cartridge belt link which comprises forming apair of slots in a blank, the slots terminating within said blank, andbending the slotted blank to form a pair of coaxial spaced loops and aloop axially parallel to and oil-set from said pair of loops, all of theloops being integrally connected through the unslotted portion of theblank.

32. The method of making a cartridge belt link which comprises forming apair of slots in a rectangular blank, the slots terminating within saidblank thereby leaving unslotted portions of the blank extending acrossthe blank substantially at right angles to the direction in which 10 theslots extend, and bending the slotted blank to form a pair of coaxialspaced loops and a loop axially parallel to and off-set from said pairof loops, all of the loops being integrally con nected through theunslotted portions of the blank.

33. The method of making a cartridge belt link which comprises the stepsof forming about a substantially common axis three loops each attachedat one end to one of a pair of parallel junction strips and eachattached at its other end to the other of the pair of parallel junctionstrips, the junction strips extending radially outwardly from theperipheral surface of said loops, and displacing the center loop awayfrom the axis of the end loops to a position axially parallel theretoand off-set therefrom.

34. The method of making a cartridge belt link as set forth in claim 33which includes the step of moving the junction strips laterally awayfrom each other until one partially overlies the peripheral surface ofthe end loops and the other partially overlies the peripheral surface ofthe center loop.

35. The method of making a cartridge belt link which comprises forming apair of substantially parallel slots in a rectangular blank, the slotsterminating within the blank, to provide a plurality of substantiallyparallel portions having their corresponding ends connected to oneanother'by junction strips, applying forming pressure to adjacentparallel portions in opposite directions so as to expand the same into apartially formed link, and subjecting the partially. formed link to asecond forming operation wherein the forming pressure is applied to itin a direction substantially at right angles to the directions in whichthe first-mentioned forming pressure is applied.

' 36. The method of making a cartridge belt link which comprises forminga pair of substantially parallel slots in a rectangular blank, the slotsterminating within the blank, to provide a plurality of substantiallyparallel portions having their corresponding ends connected to oneanother by junction strips, applying forming pressure to adjacentparallel portions in opposite directions to expand the blank into apartially formed link having partially formed loops, and applying tosaid partially formed link a second forming pressure in a differentdirection to bring the junction strips substantially together tocomplete the loops and the partially formed link.

37. The method of making a cartridge belt link which comprises forming apair of substantially parallel slots in a rectangular blank, the slotsterminating within the blank, to provide a plurality of substantiallyparallel portions having their corresponding ends connected to oneanother by junction strips, applying forming pressure to adjacentparallel portions in opposite directions to expand the blank into apartially formed link having partially formed loops, applying to saidpartially formed link a second forming pressure in a different directionto bring the junction strips substantially together to complete theloops and the partially formed link, and bending the junction strips topartially overlie the peripheral surface of a loop.

38. The method of making a cartridge belt link which comprises forming apair of substantially parallel slots in a rectangular blank, the slotsterminating within the blank, toprovide a plurality of substantiallyparallel portions having their corresponding ends connected to oneanother by junction strips, applying forming pressure to adjacentparallel portions in opposite directions to expand the blank into apartially formed link having a pair of partially formed coaxial loopsand a third partially formed loop ofiset from and axially substantiallyparallel to said pair of loops, applying to said partially formed link asecond forming pressure in a different direction to bring the junctionstrips substantially together to complete the loops and the partiallyformed link, and bending the junction strips to partially overlie theperipheral surface of said third off-set loop.

39. The method of making a cartridge belt link which comprises forming apair of substantially parallel slots in a rectangular blank, the slotsterminating within the blank, to provide a plurality of substantiallyparallel portions having their corresponding ends connected to oneanother by junction strips, applying forming pressure to adjacentparallel portions in opposite directions to expand the blank into apartially formed link having partially formed loops, and applying tosaid partially formed link a second forming pressure in a differentdirection to bring the junction strips together in flat overlyingrelationship to complete the loops and the partially formed link.

40. The method of making a cartridge belt link as set forth in claim 39which includes the step of forming a longitudinal rib in one of thejunction strips.

41. A cartridge belt link comprising first and second junction strips, apair of spaced coaxial cartridge gripping loops integral with the stripsand extending from an edge of the first strip to an edge of the secondstrip, and a connecting loop axially parallel to the gripping loops andoffset from the space therebetween, the connecting loop also beingintegral with the strips and extending from the same edge of said firststrip to the same edge of said second strip, and both the junctionstrips partially overlying the peripheral surfaces of said grippingloops.

12 42. A cartridge belt link comprising first and second junctionstrips, a pair of spaced coaxial cartridge gripping loops integral withthe strips and extending from an edge of the first strip to an edge ofthe second strip, and a connecting loop axially parallel to the grippingloops and off-set from the space therebetween, the connecting loo-p alsobeing integral with the strips and extending from the same edge of saidfirst strip to the same edge of said second strip, and the edges of thejunction strips which are not integral with any of the loops beingintegral with each other.

43. The method of making a cartridge belt link which comprises forming apair of slots in a tubular blank, the slots terminating within saidblank, and bending the slotted blank to form a pair of coaxial spacedloops and a loop axially parallel to and off-set from said pair ofloops, all of the loops being integrally connected through the unslottedportion of the blank.

GEORGE FREDERICK FRENCH. ROGER FRENCH. SAMUEL WARBURTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 628,871 Trochain July 11, 18991,328,230 Johnston Jan. 13, 1920 1,550,787 Dawson et al. Aug. 25, 19252,022,685 Moore Dec. 3, 1935 2,302,595 Berry Nov. 17, 1942 2,347,930Borton May 2, 1944 2,391,081 Von Hofe et al Dec. 18, 1945 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 36,603 Austria Mar. 10, 1909 161,320 GreatBritain Apr. 14, 1921 161,697 Great Britain Apr. 18, 1921

